Therapeutic foot rest

ABSTRACT

A therapeutic foot rest comprises a resilient foam boot having a base and upstanding side walls defining a cavity for receiving a patient&#39;&#39;s foot and holding the foot in an upright position, the end wall opposing the sole of the patient&#39;&#39;s foot being resiliently compressable against the foot board of the patient&#39;&#39;s bed to enable therapeutic exercise.

United States Patent 11 1 Brown [451 Aug. 26, 1975 1 THERAPEUTIC FOOTREST [76] Inventor: Robert J. Brown, 3301 Bounty Cir.,

Huntington Beach, Calif. 92646 [22] Filed: Dec. 18, 1973 1211 Appl. No.:425,728

[52] U.S. C1. 128/133; 128/80 R [51] Int. Cl. A61F 13/00 [58] Field ofSearch 128/133, 134, 149, 80 R,

128/80 A, 80 B, 80 C, 80 D, 80 DB, 80 E, 80 F, 80 G, 80 H, 80 J [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,482,566 12/1969 Watkins 128/1333,505,994 4/1970 Smith 128/80 R 3,606,884 9/1971 Peter 128/149 3,713,437l/l973 Wiedmcr 128/80 E FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 525,358 9/1921France 128/134 Primary ExaminerRichard A. Gaudet Assistant Examiner.l.Yasko 5 7 ABSTRACT A therapeutic foot rest comprises a resilient foamboot having a base and upstanding side walls defining a cavity forreceiving a patients foot and holding the foot in an upright position,the end wall opposing the sole of the patients foot being resilientlycompressable against the foot board of the patients bed to enabletherapeutic exercise.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures THERAPEUTIC FOOT REST BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION Following various types of major orthopedic surgery involvingthe leg or the hip, it is often necessary that the patients foot bestabilized in an upright position and prevented from turning to the sidewiththe patient lying on his back, since the patients muscles, tendonsand ligaments are frequently so affected by the surgery that the patientis unable to hold his leg in a desired position.

Examples of such orthopedic surgery are implants in hips, knees, anklesor other operations wherein substantial separation of muscles andtendons is necessary in order for the surgeon to have access to thejoint or other region where the surgery is being performed.

Typically, as post operative treatment, various forms of foot rests areprovided which are intended to maintain the patients foot in an uprightposition during the initial period required for partial healing of themuscle and tendon separation, before the patient has control of theaffected leg. Shortly following such surgery, the therapeutic exerciseinvolves the patient applying pressure against the foot board of his bednumerous times per day, say 500, for example, in order to commence therestrengthening of the leg so that the patient will have control of theleg. For this latter purpose, it is common practice to provide a lengthof resilient material, such as urethane foam, constituting a resilientcushion at the foot of the bed which reacts against the pressure appliedby the patient.

Frequently, it is a tendency of the foot rests to become dislocated fromthe patients foot, and the patients heel frequently becomes sore, notonly due to the long period of confinement in bed, but also due to therubbing of the heel on the bed or in the support for the foot duringtherapeutic exercises.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a novel,therapeutic foot rest which easily attaches to the foot, it comfortablein use, positively holds the foot in an upright position and affords acushion for therapeutic exercise of the leg.

More particularly, the invention provides a soft, resilient, yet stableboot-like body adapted to be applied to the foot of a patient andprovides a foot rest portion underlying the heel and tendon region ofthe ankle with the foot extending upright in a cavity affording abundantspace for circulation of air, yet constraining the foot in an uprightposition so that the foot and the leg extending to the hip region areprevented from rotating in cases where the patients muscles and tendonshave been so impaired that the patient cannot maintain the foot and legin a stable position.

In addition, an end wall of the boot opposing the sole of the foot isadapted to be placed against the foot board or other rigid surfacelocated at the foot of the bed against which the patient may press thesole of the foot as a matter of therapy to assist in strengthening themuscles.

In its preferred form, the foot rest or boot is composed of urethanefoam consisting of layers of different densities, including a firstlayer having an ankle receiving opening of relatively low density foamso as to be comfortable and to resiliently support the tendon regionadjacent the ankle, an intermediate layer which defines the foot cavityof relatively low density to provide a soft cushion for the heel, and athird layer forming the sole of the boot or support of greater densityagainst which the patients foot can be pressed to provide a resilientreaction for therapy as referred to above. The ankle receiving layer andthe foot cavity fonning layers are vertically split to afford ease ofapplication of the boot to the patients foot without causing discomfort,as well as to allow circulation of air around the patients foot.

This invention possesses many other advantages, and has other purposeswhich may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration of the formin which it may be embodied. This form is shown in the drawingsaccompanying and forming part of the present specification. They willnow be described in detail, for the purpose of illustrating the generalprincipals of the invention; but it is to be understood that suchdetailed descriptions are not to be taken in a limiting sense.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TI-IEDRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective viewillustrating a therapeutic foot rest made in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation thereof with a fragmentary portion brokenaway;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section as taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, showingthe foot rest applied to a patients foot and. leg; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the foot rest in a stretchedopen condition facilitating reception of the patients foot and ankle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As seen in the drawings, thetherapeutic foot rest comprises a body of resilient foam materialcomprising a flat base wall 1 adapted to rest upon a bed 2 to provide astable support for the upstanding body section of the foot rest.

Within the foot rest body is a central cavity 3 extending vertically forreceiving the patients toes, and of generally frusto-conical form asseen in FIG. 2, so that the patients toes are substantially confined bythe relatively narrow side walls adjacent to the top of the cavity 3 toprevent lateral movement of the foot, while the wider, lower portion ofthe cavity 3 affords space for circulation of air. The foot rest bodyhas a circular opening 4 for receiving and resiliently constraining thepatients ankle against lateral movement. The body is vertically split at5 above the opening 4, the split extending at 6 into the mid-section ofthe body so that the body is also split at the top of the cavity 3. Theinner wall 7 of the body defining the cavity 3 opposes the sole of thefoot of the patient and the resilient body material is adapted to bepressed against a foot board or other rigid member 8 to enabletherapeutic exercise.

In its preferred form, the body is composed of three separate pieces ofresilient material, such as three layers of urethane foam, consisting ofa first outer layer A, an intermediate layer B and another outer layerC. The first outer layer A is of relatively low density foam so that therest or pad section 9 on which the patients tendon region rests is softand comfortable. Internally of the pad section 9, the intermediate layerB provides a heel pad section 10 on which the patients heel may restsomewhat, but in general, the predominance of the weight will besupported by the pad section 9. The pad section is at a lower elevationto provide a depression for receiving the heel to prevent heel sores.The intermediate layer B is also preferably composed of foam ofrelatively low density. The outer layer C is preferably composed ofrelatively high density foam to provide resilient reaction to footpressure applied by the patient during therapeutic exercise.

Urethane foam is an ideal material for the foot rest in that the foampermits the circulation of air, so that although the patient's foot iseffectively confined it will remain relatively cool and well ventilated.Ventilation is enhanced by the fact that the intermediate layer B issplit as at 6, and when the patient presses against the cavity wall 7,the body will yield and open somewhat in the region of the splits 5 and6, reclosing when pressure is relaxed, thereby inducing air flow. Thefoam layers are preferably die cut and cemented together rather thanresorting to a molding process, thereby avoiding impairment of theinherent permeability of the foam material.

in addition, the urethan foam is easily flexed so that the foot rest canbe widely opened at the splits 5 and 6 to enable the foot rest to beapplied to a patients foot and ankle easily without causing pain to thepatient.

I claim:

1. A therapeutic foot rest comprising: a body of resilient foam materialhaving a flat base wall, a foot receivsaid cavity and a third layer offoam material forming the end wall of said cavity said layers beingbonded together to form an ankle receiving opening leading into saidcavity from one side of said body, said body being vertically splitabove said opening in at least the outer layer but not extending throughsaid third layer to allow said body to be opened to receive the foot andankle of a patient.

2. A therapeutic foot rest as defined in claim 1, wherein saidintermediate layer is also split above said cavity.

3. A therapeutic foot rest as defined in claim 1, said first outer layerand said intermediate layer being composed of foam material of lesserdensity than said third outer layer.

4. A therapeutic foot rest as defined in claim 1, said layers of foammaterial being die cut and permeable to air.

5. A therapeutic foot rest as defined in claim 1, wherein said cavity isdefined by relatively narrow upper toe restraining wall sections andrelatively wider lower wall sections.

1. A therapeutic foot rest comprising: a body of resilient foam materialhaving a flat base wall, a foot receiving cavity within said body, saidbody being composed of an outer layer of foam material defining saidopening, an intermediate layer of foam material defining said cavity anda third layer of foam material forming the end wall of said cavity saidlayers being bonded together to form an ankle receiving opening leadinginto said cavity from one side of said body, said body being verticallysplit above said opening in at least the outer layer but not extendingthrough said third layer to allow said body to be opened to receive thefoot and ankle of a patient.
 2. A therapeutic foot rest as defined inclaim 1, wherein said intermediate layer is also split above saidcavity.
 3. A therapeutic foot rest as defined in claim 1, said firstouter layer and said intermediate layer being composed of foam materialof lesser density than said third outer layer.
 4. A therapeutic footrest as defined in claim 1, said layers of foam material being die cutand permeable to air.
 5. A therapeutic foot rest as defined in claim 1,wherein said cavity is defined by relatively narrow upper toerestraining wall sections and relatively wider lower wall sections.